Corker Looks Forward to Successful Markup of Housing Finance Reform Legislation

WASHINGTON, D.C. – March 31, 2014 – (RealEstateRama) — U.S. Senator Bob Corker (R-Tenn.), a member of the Senate Banking Committee, issued the following statement today after Chairman Tim Johnson (D-S.D.) and Ranking Member Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) announced the committee will markup the Housing Finance Reform and Taxpayer Protection Act (S.1217), a bipartisan bill introduced last year by Corker and Senator Mark Warner (D-Va.) and cosponsored by a bipartisan group of 10 senators, on Tuesday, April 29, 2014 at 10:00 A.M.

“After a dozen hearings on housing finance reform and S.1217, the committee is well prepared to act, and I look forward to a successful markup at the end of April. It’s time for Congress to move forward on modernizing our housing finance system to protect the American taxpayer from any more bailouts. I appreciate ‎Chairman ‎Johnson and ‎Ranking Member Crapo’s strong commitment to this important issue,” said Corker.

In June 2013, Corker and Warner introduced S.1217 to strengthen America’s housing finance system by replacing government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs) Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac with a privately capitalized system that preserves market liquidity and protects taxpayers from future economic downturns.

In 2008, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were taken into government conservatorship and given a $188 billion capital injection from taxpayers to stay afloat. As a result of this bailout, the private market has almost completely disappeared, and so nearly every loan made in America today comes with a full government guarantee. Despite this unsustainable situation, there still has been no real reform to our housing finance system since the financial crisis.

In addition to Corker and Warner, S. 1217 is currently cosponsored by Senators Mike Johanns (R-Neb.), Jon Tester (D-Mont.), Dean Heller (R-Nev.), Heidi Heitkamp (D-N.D.), Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), Kay Hagan (D-N.C.), Mark Kirk (R-Ill.), Joe Manchin (D-W.V.), Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.), and Mark Begich (D-Alaska), which includes five Republicans and five Democrats from the Senate Banking Committee.